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Monsters of Sin Now Available

Kobold Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:15:04 +0000

Avarice, gluttony, and wrath. The seven sins dangerous enough to be called deadly are now collected under one set of covers, with all errata and some expanded text to make these Sin Monsters as complete and dangerous as they can be.
The Monsters of Sin Collection includes

21 new monsters thematically tied to one of the seven deadly sins,
7 templates to bring that sin out in monsters and NPCs,
complete notes on using sin in any fantasy world,
7 Embodiments of Sin to challenge the greatest heroes!

The Monsters of Sin Collection is suitable for multiple levels of play and can be used in any existing setting and campaign, or it can be combined to create a campaign of Sin. Go beyond ordinary monsters, and challenge your champions with threats to mind, body, and spirit!
Available now from Kobold Press!

Midgard Bestiary for 4th edition D&D Now Available

Kobold Press — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:54:48 +0000

In the passage ahead you see a golem made of eyes, holding a screaming psychic derro fetus in a cage. Roll for initiative!

As we draw near to the big release of the Midgard Campaign Setting worldbook, we’ve hit the bestiary trifecta: our latest product brings the wonder and terror (mostly terror) of Midgard to 4th Edition D&D. Midgard Bestiary: 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Edition by Richard Green and Brian Liberge is out today!

The book features over 150 monsters to challenge player characters in your game, whether set in Midgard or your home campaign world. Each entry includes useful background information to help you use the creatures and give you a glimpse into the rich and storied world of Midgard – and it’s introduced by 4e lead designer Rob Heinsoo, whose essay offers a system for Dungeon Masters to turn monster content into something players can use while creating characters. The creatures included cover all levels from 1 through 33, allowing you to use this Bestiary throughout your entire campaign.

Nearly all the creatures from the AGE Bestiary appear in the book, as well as 100 others carefully selected from throughout Open Design’s history. You’ll find older monsters like the owl harpy from Six Arabian Nights and the blood hag from Blood of the Gorgon rubbing shoulders with more recent creatures such as the sand giant from Lost City and the putrid haunt, as well as brand new creatures written by Midgard patrons. And no Midgard Bestiary would be complete without plenty of kobolds, ghouls, clockwork creatures, and shadow fey!

Monsters from 3.5, Pathfinder, and AGE have been converted to 4th Edition, and in many cases, the authors have provided additional variants to help DMs build exciting encounters featuring groups of the same creature type. Creatures from earlier 4th Edition products—such as Wrath of the River King and the Imperial Gazetteer—have been updated: damage levels, defenses, and stat block formats have all been reviewed and revised where necessary, with particular emphasis on solos and elites.

Pick up Midgard Bestiary: 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Edition at the Kobold Store. As a sneak preview, here is one of the weirdest, most horrifying monsters you’re likely to encounter in the lightless tunnels beneath Midgard’s surface:

DERRO FETAL SAVANT

This creature appears to be a blue-skinned infant no older than a year. Its limbs flail, its head lolls with an obvious lack of coordination, and it screams incessantly.

The derro are a malevolent race of dwarf-like creatures forced deep underground centuries ago. They found a dark home—and equally dark gods to worship in the subterranean realms beneath the Ironcrags. Here they nursed their hatreds and perfected the use of magics only whispered of in the sunlight.

Spreading Insanity

Of the madness that resonates so strongly in derro society, perhaps nothing is so twisted as fetal savants. These tiny, premature infants are born insane and destined to lead their people further into madness. Only the most rare of derro are born with the rapidly fading ability to exchange souls with other creatures, and when discovered, the babbling infants are treated with bizarre and grotesque reverence. Placed in small, intricately wrought, pillowed cages and borne aloft on hooked golden staves, the wild- eyed newborns are carried standard-like behind battle lines to sow madness and confusion among enemy ranks.

Crazed Possessors

Fetal savants use their despairing prison of flesh ability to randomly seize control of an appropriate victim among combatants. While possessing a host body, the savant attacks opponents wildly, relishing the physical power. Helpless without aid, a fetal savant greedily attempts to remain in a host body as long as possible. Its fate is otherwise in the hands of its bearer.

Derro Fetal Savant
Tiny natural humanoid
Level 10 Controller
XP 500

HP 94; Bloodied 47
AC 22, Fortitude 20, Reflex 23, Will 25
Speed 1, a derro fetal savant cannot shift
Resist 15 poison, 5 psychic; Immune domination
Initiative +5
Perception +14
Darkvision

Standard Actions

Wail from the Utter Black (psychic) * At-Will
Attack: Close burst 6 (creatures in the burst); +12 vs. Will
Hit: 2d8 + 5 psychic damage, and target is dazed (save ends).

Despairing Prison of Flesh (psychic, reliable) * Recharge when first bloodied
Attack: Ranged 7 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 4d10 + 5 psychic damage, and target is dazed (save ends). Targets already dazed are instead dominated (save ends).
First Failed Save: If not already dominated, target is dominated (save ends).

Move Actions

Precious Cargo * At-Will
Another creature may carry a fetal savant in a specially prepared cage. Doing so requires the fetal savant’s move action, but allows it to move when that creature moves. Carrying the cage reduces the bearer’s speed by 3 squares.

Minor Actions

Brainbleeder Rebuke (psychic) * At-Will
Attack: Melee 2 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: 2d8 + 9 psychic damage.

Skills Arcana +8, Insight +14, Perception +14, Stealth +10
Str 6 (+3) Dex 10 (+5) Wis 18 (+9)
Con 6 (+3) Int 6 (+3) Cha 16 (+8)
Alignment chaotic evil
Languages Trade, Deep Speech, Dwarven

Dark Roads & Golden Hells Now Available

Kobold Press — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:41:44 +0000

– Colin McComb, Planescape designer

Open Design’s new sourcebook of planar adventure for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game has been forged and polished to gleaming, smoldering perfection and is ready be unleashed on the Prime Material Plane! You can pick it up in the Kobold Store in print+PDF or PDF only.

Dan Voyce (Northlands) has delivered a glittering array of new planar options for GMs including:

More than 80 new planes and locations including the Loom, the Eleven Hells, and the City of Vultures Beyond
3 new PC races: the Deva, the Maxim, and the Warpling
Dozens of planar PC options: 45 new feats and 41 new traits
18 new spells including Combat Geometry, Ghostlock, and Quantum Uncertainty
6 new planar monsters including the fate-eater, rust drake, and spinning hag
Infinite possibilities!
To whet your appetite, here’s one of the denizens of the planes you might run into while searching for the legendary Plane of Unguarded Treasure: the fate-eater…

FATE-EATER

Bathed in sickly violet radiance, the translucent flesh of this giant centipede-like creature glistens as its crystalline jaws gape wide.

These translucent, man-sized parasites resemble ghostly centipedes surrounded in erratic violet radiance. They infest scattered areas of the Loom, where they consume the very threads of fate itself. The Norns view them as vermin and sometimes will engage particularly canny planewalkers either to hunt them or to help repair the damage they have done. This can be a deadly job as the fate eaters consider the destiny of a mortal to be the tastiest of delicacies, rich in savory possibilities.

Fate eaters always start combat by dimensionally anchoring opponents, so they may then feed on the victim’s destiny. Consuming the threads of the Loom for so many millennia has made them hard to catch unaware. Information can be traded from them, but one must have something rich in destiny to trade or become the meal oneself. Some say they are an intrusion from beyond our reality while others avow that they have existed, like the Loom, since before time itself began. Others say that eating the flesh of a fate eater can allow one insights into the fate of another, or even the ability to partake in that fate.

The Norns frown on such wild tales.

FATE EATERS, CR 9
XP 6,400 N Medium outsider (extraplanar)
 Init +5; Senses lifesense 60 ft.; Perception +16

DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 16, flat-footed 20 (+ 1 Dex, +5 deflection, +5 natural)
hp 90 (12d10+24) Fort + 8, Ref + 5, Will + 10 Immune charm, sleep

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 40 ft.
 Melee spectral bite +9 (4d6/19–20 plus special)
Special Attacks  Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th; concentration +13)
Constant—true seeing  At Will—quickened dimensional anchor

STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 16, Cha 9
 Base Atk +9 ; CMB +9; CMD 20 
Feats Alertness, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (dimensional anchor), Weapon Focus (bite)
 Skills Bluff +16, Diplomacy +12, Knowledge (arcana) + 20, Knowledge (history) +20, Knowledge (planes) +30, Knowledge (religion) +20, Perception +16, Sense Motive +20, Stealth +14
Languages telepathy 100 ft.
SQ sound mimicry (voices)

ECOLOGY
Environment the Loom
Organization solitary
Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Spectral Bite (Su) When a fate eater scores a critical hit against a target, it damages not only the creature but also the threads of its fate. Each successful critical changes the character’s past or future (Will save DC 20). Roll 1d6 on the chart below for each critical hit:
1. Seeing the Alternates—Gains the confused condition for 1d4 rounds.
2. Shifting Memories—Loses 2 ranks from a single random skill, and gains 2 ranks in a random untrained skill.
3. Untied from the Loom—Character’s speed is randomized for 1d4 rounds.
4. Not So Fast—Unable to use one random feat.
5. Lost Potential—Suffers 1 ability damage (random ability).
6. Took the Lesser Path—Gains 1 negative level.

Another Will save may be made every 24 hours to dispel these effects. Each day the DC increases by 1 as the character becomes more entrenched in this new destiny.
GM Option: If the initial save is made by 5 or more, the target can attempt to direct the change: replacing age, race, alignment, skill ranks, or feats with other legal choices. For instance, some GMs might allow an avoided drained level to be replaced with a level in a completely different class.

Monster Monday: Antisoul

Miranda — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:00:25 +0000

The malevolent entity soared above the dead body while black tendrils played across the corpse, arcing like ebon lightning every few seconds.

And now a cacophonous scream erupts from the vile form as it surges forward — toward you!

Antisouls, so named by a young priest who was the only surviving member of a group of travelers that fell to one such creature, are entities of pure negative energy that normally exist only on the plane of negative energy. Sometimes, however, a conflux of events can open a gateway and tempt these creatures to visit other planes of existence. One such conflux occurs when powerful divine magic attempts to restore life to a dead creature, and the person refuses to grasp at this new chance at life. This rejection echoes across the planes of existence, providing an opportunity for an “antisoul” to notice it, then follow it back to the pathway created by the spell. After it comes through to where the corpse of the intended recipient of the divine magic rests, it seeks to cause as much destruction as possible. Read more about this creature — maybe it’ll show up on your character’s doorstep this evening and ask for more than a treat!

Antisoul CR 13

25,600 XP
CE Medium outsider (extraplanar)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense; Perception +22

DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 16, flat-footed 20 (+5 Dex, +1 Dodge, +10 natural)
hp 16d10+96 (184 hp)
Fort +12, Ref +17, Will +17
Defensive Abilities watery goo; Immune bleed, death effects, disease, poison, sleep effects, and stunning; extraplanar traits; SR 24
Weaknesses vulnerability to positive energy

OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.; fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Melee slam +20 (1d6+6/x2 plus entropic burn)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th)
Constant — deathwatch
At-Will — inflict light wounds, mass (DC 20)
3/day — inflict critical wounds, mass (DC 23)
1/day — disintegrate (DC 21), harm (DC 21), waves of exhaustion

STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 20, Con 20, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 20
Base Atk +16; CMB +20; CMD +35
Feats Dodge, Empower Spell-Like Ability (inflict light wounds), Flyby Attack, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness
Skills Acrobatics +24, Escape Artist +24, Fly +32, Intimidate +24, Knowledge (planes) +20, Perception +22, Sense Motive +22
SQ death amplification (DC 23), entropic burn, negative energy aura

ECOLOGY
Environment any (negative energy plane)
Organization solitary
Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Death Amplification (Su) Antisouls can amplify the death of a living being. If a creature dies within 30 ft. of an antisoul, it can cause a negative energy explosion with a radius of 10 feet that is centered on one of the dead creature’s squares. This explosion does 1d6 damage per HD of the creature that died to a maximum of 15d6 (Reflex DC 23 for half). An antisoul may use this ability only once per round.

Entropic Burn (Su) Creatures hit by an antisoul’s slam attack take an additional 1d6 negative energy damage. Any creature that hits an antisoul with a natural weapon or unarmed attack takes 1d6 negative energy.

Lifesense (Su) An antisoul notices and locates living creatures within 60 feet, just as if it possessed the blindsight ability.

Negative Energy Aura (Su) An antisoul is surrounded by an aura of negative energy. Creatures within 5 ft. of it take 1d6 negative energy damage at the beginning of the antisoul’s turn.

Vulnerability to Positive Energy (Ex) An antisoul can be harmed by positive energy effects that would harm an undead creature. In addition, an antisoul takes half again as much damage (+50%) from such effects.

Typical Characteristics

When manifested on other planes, antisouls take on a warped version of the appearance of the person who was supposed to be brought back to life. Their features twist and elongate, and their eyes become completely black. Negative energy ripples around the antisoul and plays across its body like constantly discharging electricity.

Ecology and Society

Antisouls are alien entities whose usual existence is almost akin to a perpetual hibernation. They are sometimes reached by magic users using divination magic to contact the negative energy plane, but otherwise they have little to no contact with others. When they do use a rejected life-restoring spell as a pathway to other planes, they have little purpose other than to destroy as much life as possible. Luckily for those who are around when they arrive, the rare rampages of antisouls are most often begun in the presence of powerful clerics who are often the people best equipped to end them.

Tactics

As “living” negative energy, antisouls are forces of entropy, and they try to bring as much death to the world as possible. It should be noted, though, that they are not mindless. Antisouls can use their lifesense and deathwatch abilities to choose targets closest to death to eliminate as many lives as possible with their death amplification ability. Regardless of relative hit point totals, though, antisouls try to eliminate any obvious divine casters as quickly as possible.

(This post is Product Identity.)

Kobold Quarterly #18 Now Available

Kobold Press — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:00:56 +0000

Kobold Quarterly issue #18, our big pre-Gen Con Summer issue, is out! It’s like a kobold beach party ice chest, but instead of being packed with gnome jerky, KQ #18 has savants, cavaliers, beast masters, and dragon hunters for Pathfinder RPG; Divine Gifts for the AGE System by Green Ronin designer Steve Kenson; a minotaur ecology for 4th Edition D&D; and three new adventures!

Characters powered with divine magic are common in fantasy RPGs. Rather than treat them as a divine magic-using class, Steve Kenson introduces the Divine Gift talent for the AGE System. Characters with a Divine Gift can belong to any class, and their gifts are defined by areas of divine influence such as Law, Chaos, Protection, Nature and Fate. Yes, you can finally play an official cleric in the AGE gamers!

Tim and Eileen Connors bring us “The Exorcist” for Pathfinder RPG, where a desperate plan to raise legendary heroes from the dead doesn’t go quite right. “Silus and the Red Dogs” is a modern update of the choose-your-own adventure books, with a fun solo adventure for a halfling thief suitable and simple rules. Finally, the excellent “Who Watches the Watch Fires?” is a 4th Edition D&D race against time to alert a sleeping city that reavers are on the way!

Kobold Quarterly #18 is available now in print and PDF. More features, columns, and articles after the jump:

New and variant characters: savants, cavaliers, dragon hunters and beast masters for Pathfinder RPG by Ryan Costello, Jr., Mike Welham, Adam Daigle, Marc Radle and Adam W. Roy
Ecology of the Minotaur by Tracy Hurley for 4th Edition D&D
Siege weaponry by Matt James for 4th Edition D&D
Synergistic magic by Phillip Larwood for Pathfinder RPG
10 reasons why your characters should be in jail by Russell Jones
Heroic flaws by Philippe-Antoine Menard
Feats and auras for dragon lairs by David Schwartz, for Pathfinder RPG and 4th Edition D&D
Creating great mysteries in RPGs by Paul Baalham
Soul brokers by Anthony W. Eichenlaub for 4th Edition D&D
Monte Cook on explaining the inexplicable, and
Skip Williams’ regular Ask the Kobold column for Pathfinder RPG

Pick up the 100-page mega-issue of Kobold Quarterly #18 in print or in PDF, and we’ll hope to see you at Gen Con in just a few weeks!